The present invention relates to an apparatus for reducing the likelihood of damage to a hard disk assembly due to physical shock and sudden impact, and more particularly to an apparatus fitted with elastic elements for buffering external impacts at each of the corners of the hard disk assembly.
Generally, a hard disk drive performs the function of recording and reproducing information stored in a magnetic memory device. Such drives typically include a spindle motor for rotating a disk upon which data is stored at a constant speed, a magnetic head for recording and reproducing the data onto and from the disk, an actuator having the magnetic head installed at one end for enabling movement of the magnetic head, and a voice coil motor for enabling the actuator to be driven.
The actuator rotates about a pivot and has a bobbin positioned at another end opposite the magnetic head. The actuator moves by a rotational force applied to the actuator via the voice coil motor, thereby enabling the magnetic head positioned at one end of the actuator to move across the surface of the disk to record and reproduce data onto and from tracks on the disk.
In a hard disk drive, in order to satisfy the need for miniaturization and low power consumption, it has been necessary to reduce the height of the hard disk assembly from a conventional height of about 42 mm, to below 1 inch. When the hard disk drive is miniaturized as described above, however, it becomes increasingly susceptible to physical damage primarily due to contact between the actuator and the surface of the disk as a result of shocks and impacts when mistreatment during shipping or handling by consumers, thereby causing the disk drives to experience an increased fault rate. Furthermore, miniaturization of the hard disk drive inherently requires that the size of the spindle motor and a bearing used in the hard disk drive be reduced. Accordingly, the hard disk drive has a very low resistance to external impacts.
To solve these problems, I have discovered that it has become necessary to provide a structure capable of buffering the hard disk assembly from damage likely to be caused by external impacts. One recent effort at creating such a structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,308 entitled Portable Disk Storage Apparatus Using Flexible Cable For Shock Absorption issued to Koyanagi et al. on 28 Mar. 1995. In this invention, a disk storage unit including a rotatable disk and a head actuator is supported by shock absorbers within a protective outer case. While this invention purports to provide an essentially shock-proof environment for the disk storage unit, I believe that conventional designs such as that shown in Koyanagi et al. '308 can be simplified and improved.